Using Your Alumni – Why You Shouldn’t Just Ask For Money
When you first join a fraternity, you understand and acknowledge that you will be contributing your time, efforts, and money to your fraternity for the rest of your life. Nearly all members of a fraternity remain connected to their fraternity even after they graduate. Most are actively involved, or at least interested in the well-being and continuing success of said organization. However, though there a sort of unspoken code that alumni should contribute, and although most are willing, it can often be difficult for current chapter members to communicate their monetary needs to the fraternity alumni. While, your need for money should be communicated to alumni, you shouldn’t simply ask for the money for a variety of reasons.
Asking for money straight out is an unprofessional way of dealing with alumni. It tells your helpful and supportive money that you are only reaching out to them because you’re seeking out their checkbook and not their help. This is not the message that you want to be sending to these helpful fraternity members. This could lead to severed connections and hard feelings on behalf of both parties. Instead, money should be requested in a more discreet and professional manner.
One way that a chapter can ask for money without directly begging for funds is to mention a project or event that is coming up and listing different aspects of the event that will need to be paid for, chances are, if you express the importance of this event and vividly describe how it will help your chapter and the fraternity in general, alumni will be happy to help you prepare and execute by offering money for certain aspects of the event.
Additionally, a better way of thinking about your alumni is to think not of what they can offer you, but to consider how you can be of help to them. Perhaps you can invite them to a function or offer a sort of appreciation night for those who have helped you in the past. Offering something to your alumni will make them much more likely to become involved with your chapter, including offering monetary donations to your organization. One popular way to carry out this venture is to offer an alumni reunion night. At an event like this, alumni members will be feeling very nostalgic for their time as active members of the chapter. Meeting with old friends will make them want to be a part of the organization again. Without saying a word about money, you will convince many people to donate money to your organization.
While it is important that your chapter collect at least some monetary donations from alumni, it is not necessary to beg or lower your dignity or the good reputation of your organization by asking for me. Instead, you have the option to maintain good ties with alumni members and still getting the money that your fraternity needs by strategically planning events that will yield donations without relying on the practice of guilt tripping or grovelling.
